White Thanksgiving, Bitter Cold, On The Table For Northeast

No one dreams of a white Thanksgiving, but back-to-back snowstorms are making that a reality for millions across the Northeast.

The latest snowstorm created messy road conditions Tuesday across much of New England, and the wintry outlook continues throughout the week. The forecast calls for snow squalls Wednesday, the busiest travel day of the year, and extreme cold and blustery conditions Thanksgiving Day.

By Thanksgiving, highs will be in the teens, with subzero wind chills, across northern New England.

It may be the coldest Thanksgiving on record in New York City, with temperatures in the 20s and winds gusting as high as 35 mph, according to the National Weather Service . That may hamper the balloons in Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which aren't permitted to fly if the wind gusts are more than 35 mph. The last time the balloons were grounded was in 1971.

On Tuesday, snow continued to pile up on top of leaves that many people hadn't finished raking throughout the region. Up to 6 inches of snow was falling across Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and parts of Massachusetts.

The snowstorm will be followed by brief-but-powerful snow squalls Wednesday across a wide swath of the Northeast, causing the potential for isolated travel problems, according to weather service meteorologist Andy Pohl. All told, AAA projects more than 54 million Americans, the vast majority of them motorists, to travel more than 50 miles from home this Thanksgiving.

Then the temperatures will plummet, paving the way for potential record cold accompanied by strong winds Thanksgiving Day, Pohl said.

Steve Roy, of Biddeford, Maine, said he is looking forward to the novelty of a "White Thanksgiving."

"A novelty is good right now," he said while trudging through the snow in Portland, Maine. "After five of these, maybe I'll have a different opinion."

But not everyone is enjoying the early snowfall.

"There are some Christmases where it's not white yet," Portland attorney Justin LeBlanc said. "It is what it is."